The last movie I saw in the theater was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Like George Lucas’ galaxy that’s far far away; it was, for me, a time, far far away. That’s more than two years of zero cinema experience.

The Pandemic has forced everyone inside their homes. And while things have eased a bit now, I’m still hesitant to go out and watch a movie—fearing I’d bring home a nasty virus and risk my unvaccinated son’s health. The only option for us, really, is to simply stay home and make do with our standard 36” flatscreen TV.

But that was before LUMOS RAY landed into our home.

OUT OF THE BOX

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LUMOS RAY UNBOXING

LUMOS RAY Home Cinema Projector is a Singaporean home theater system. It comes in four types—LUMOS RAY Regular and LUMOS RAY Smart for small rooms, LUMOS AURO for large rooms, and LUMOS NANO for ultra-portable unwired cinema experience. So far, only the LUMOS RAYS are available in the Philippines. With a price range of ₱8,999.00 (Regular) and ₱11,999.00 (Smart), it’s easily one of the most affordable home theater projectors in the market today.

What’s the difference between LUMOS RAY Regular versus Smart? You’ll need an external source for Regular, like say, a laptop, a smart TV box, or a USB drive to project content. While the Smart version has built in Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and Android smart TV operating system—meaning, instant Netflix.

LUMOS RAY IS PRETTY COMPACT WITH A SIZE OF 6 x 7 x 6 INCHES

The LUMOS RAY, with an approximate size of 6 x 7 x 6 inches (half a ruler) and a weight of 1.2 kilograms, is small and very compact. It can easily be positioned anywhere inside your room—heck, you can even lug it with you for staycations with your friends. It’s so light, you can mount it on a tripod, and yes, it has a built-in tripod screw mount at the bottom.

AUDIO AND HDMI CABLES INCLUDED

The box includes a really intuitive and responsive remote control, a power cable, an AV 3.5mm jack to female RCA cable (to connect LUMOS RAY to external speakers), and an HDMI cable (for laptop or desktop connections).

THE LUMOS RAY SMART RUNS ON ANDROID 9.0 AND HAS PRE-LOADED APPS

I have the LUMOS RAY Smart and turning it on, it runs Android 9.0. It has pre-loaded apps like Netflix, YouTube, Mcast, and Kodi among others. If you want to install more apps, it has a Google Play Store (can’t seem to sign in though) and TV App Store. Besides streaming shows, you can also watch videos from your USB or SD cards, or cast shows or even games from your phone.

FRIYAY SESSIONS

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FRIYAY MOVIE NIGHT AT HOME

The perfect time to test LUMOS RAY cinema projector was during our weekly Friyay Sessions with the wife. Snacks were prepared, drinks were set up, and the projector was plugged in.

THE LUMOS RAY REMOTE CONTROL IS VERY SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE

With beer and vodka on hand, we watched with mouth agape as Phil recapped the previous episode of The Amazing Race—in huge, full glory of the wall/screen of our darkened room. We were seated on the bar stools of our kitchen counter but it felt like we’re in a cinema! It was a-ma-zing.

LUMOS RAY QUALITY

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WATCHING THE AMAZING RACE ON LUMOS RAY

Setting LUMOS RAY was a breeze. Even if the projector isn’t totally parallel to your wall, the projected image can easily be adjusted from corner to corner to remove skew distortion.

AMAZING VIDEO QUALITY EVEN ON 360P RESOLUTION SHOWS

LUMOS RAY has a native 720p resolution (1080p compatible). It has a brightness of 3,000 lumens, it’s not made for watching during daytime with windows open. It has projected screen size (diagonal) of 50 to 150 inches (4 to 12.5 feet)—the farther you are, the larger the screen.

Video quality is sharp and colors are vivid, especially for 720p and 1080p shows. For the heck of it, I tried running a 360p video—uhmm, low resolution video, for non-techie peeps—and the output was still decent and very watchable. We projected our video to a gray wall—imagine if we had it on a white wall or even a dedicated projector screen, it would’ve been even better.

The built-in Dolby Audio stereo speakers are also decent. Audio is clear, with deep bass. Although, if you really want the full cinema experience with your LUMOS, it would be best to connect it to a minimum of 5.1 speaker system.

BACK CONNECTION PORTS—IR, HEADPHONES, 3.5MM AV JACK, HDMI, USB, AND TRANSFLASH CARD

Since you’d probably be using this during the evenings, there’s also the option of using a wired and Bluetooth-enabled earphones / headphones, to keep the neighbors from banging on your door every time something explodes on the show you’re watching.

The only caveat is that you can’t connect multiple Bluetooth headphones on the LUMOS RAY—only one is allowed. We tried using a Bluetooth headphone plus wired headphone, that doesn’t work too. The only solution for this is to get a 3.5mm audio jack splitter for wired headphones, or buy a Bluetooth multi-transmitter box for wireless headsets.

OTHER USES

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MICROSOFT POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ON LUMOS RAY

Besides watching movies and bingeing on TV series, the LUMOS RAY projector can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker—although for the life of me, I can’t seem to make it work.

But really, besides entertainment, this can also be used as a projector—like for slideshows and presentations. In fact, my wife is eyeing it for use at her school once face to face classes start again. Just download an app that can read MS Office or Google Workspace, load your files in a USB drive, and you’re good to go. Another way is to simply plug your laptop in using the provided HDMI cable.

For events photographers, LUMOS RAY projectors can also be used for showing same-day edit videos during weddings.

IMPROVEMENTS & WISHLIST

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LUMOS RAY HAS A REMOVABLE HANDLE STRAP

I’m pretty much blown away by LUMOS RAY, but still, there are a few things I wish they would install in the future.

First, a built in angle elevator at the bottom of the unit. This would definitely help in positioning the projector at an angle without us resorting to using all sorts of things (like Lego bricks, lol) to prop it upwards since most table surfaces are pretty low.

I also wish that they can produce a battery pack and a nifty case for full portability. It’s kinda clunky to be bringing it along a trip using its original box as protective case.

Lastly, a longer power cable to remove the need for an extension wire. I’m pretty sure, LUMOS RAY isn’t gonna be set up beside a wall where electrical sockets are located, but most probably in the middle of a room.

AFTER SALES SUPPORT

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I LOVE LUMOS RAY’S SLEEK DESIGN

The LUMOS RAY projector bulb has a rated use of more than 50,000 hours, so with an average viewing of three to five hours, expect it to last for many years. The unit also has a full one year local warranty, including the bulb.

For support, they have a dedicated customer service at support@lumosprojector.ph or via Facebook Chat. I personally tried reaching out to their FB chat for some questions and they are very responsive—no bots there.

FINAL THOUGHTS

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MOUNTING THE LUMOS RAY ON A CAMERA TRIPOD

I’ve always been an audio and cinema nut (raise hands, PinoyDVD and WiredState forum members) and I’ve been wanting my very own home theater even before the Pandemic struck. When I say before, I mean, like, since I was in college. But there’s always the cost. It’s pretty expensive to set up a home theater, but our home theater experience at Blu Serenity Villa a few weeks ago reminded me of how much I’ve wanted this for the longest time.

And now, here it is. An extremely affordable compact home theater system that performs like my personal Ayala Cinema. Indeed, thank you LUMOS RAY for fulfilling one of my dreams.

~ LUMOS RAY PROVIDED THE UNIT I REVIEWED. VIEWS & OPINIONS ARE ALL MINE.

 

 

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Email: support@lumosprojector.ph